A escola vista por uma janela literária: tecendo compreensões no diálogo com as palavras de Jeferson Tenório

Abstract

Considering the specificity of literary language as a space for the intersection of voices and the expression of valuations about the world and life, aims to understand the socio-historical materiality of the sign school from the dialogue with the literary word, namely, O Avesso da Pele, written by Jeferson Tenório (2020). To this end, the following specific objectives were organized: a) To build understandings about the role of the word in human relationships, especially the possibilities of the literary word, as a place from which one can also understand the world and life; b) Investigate the school as a possible place of oppression; c) Look for evidence of the school as a place for the construction of libertarian cracks, the possibility of the emergence and announcement of counterwords, of singular confrontation with what is seen as dominant, especially in pedagogical relations, considering the triad teacher, student and knowledge. Methodologically, we opted for the studies of discourse, from the perspective of Mikhail Bakhtin and the Circle. By comparing excerpts from the literary work with other statements such as those by Augusto Ponzio, João Wanderley Geraldi, Regina Dalcastagnè, Ligia Chiappini and Paulo Freire, it was possible to build understandings about the school as a time-place marked by tensions and contradictions, where various mechanisms of opression operate, mainly due to the maintenance of traditional relationships among teachers, students and administrators. The plot produced by Jeferson Tenório in O Avesso da Pele reveals life trajectories impacted by social ills, in particular, racism and poverty. The trajectories taken by the main character named Henrique cover childhood, adolescence and adult life, interspersing experiences at school and outside of it, as a student and as a teacher. The study made it possible to identify situations in which the school acts to maintain unequal social relations, based on prejudice and racism, in the absence of dialogue and in the reproduction of other forms of violence. It points to the presence of personal and pedagogical relationships strongly marked by the rigidity of hierarchies, routines, curricular programs and teaching methodologies, most of the time, dissociated from the students' life context, which culminates in disinterest and apathy, representing also attempts at silencing and adaptation. On the other hand, the work also reveals numerous examples of the construction of libertarian gaps in the school, expressed in relationships based on mutual respect, dialogue, active listening, attempts to articulate knowledge, art and life, by forging creative pedagogical actions, enabling the construction of critical views about the contexts, in view of the uniqueness of each subject in concrete situations.